Let's Die Digging
by Cadavatar
Summary: The north power strip and south power strip have been separated for years, each holding grudges for events long past. Can a bridge be built before it is burned? And what do you do when the only one who can help is digging for something that cannot be found? RalphxOC.
1. Prologue

His knuckles were _bleeding_, really bleeding. But he kept punching away through the rock. White chips of marble flew like snow as he blew through them, huffing with each punch. No, he couldn't run out of steam now. He powered through the pain in his fists with gritted teeth. Through his fit of fury, he could hear Vanellope and Calhoun arguing, Felix telling them that they had to get out, they had to run.

"GET HER OUT OF HERE!" The wrecking man bellowed over his shoulder, glimpsing the Sugar Rush Princess struggling in the soldier's arms, reaching out for him, tears streaming from her eyes like rivers. She wanted to help him more than anything in the world, and as the blonde woman hauled her away all he could hear was her screaming a loud 'no', over and over. He blocked it out as he moved on to a block of obsidian, which hurt his fists even more than the others. "I'M GONNA WRECK IT!" He roared at the block that was his opponent, cracking it within three blows, shattering it in six. He began punching the floor, fists flying at incomprehensible speeds.

There was a whisper of noise as he finished, dropping through an empty space of three blocks to hit a solid sedimentary floor. "Ralph." It whispered through cracks in the rock. He began tunneling deeper, ignoring the dirt on his face that mixed with tears of his own.

"I'm gonna get you out!" He called down as he began to punch harder than before, coughing as the limestone dust blinded and choked him.

"Ralph." The voice said again, weaker. Quieter.

"Don't you dare die on me." He coughed, beating in another marble block. "You promised. We promised."

And the voice said nothing.

"I'M GONNA WRECK IT!" He yelled again, slamming his fist into obsidian, ignoring the cuts, the blood, and the tears.


	2. Family Ties

Sometimes, the life of an arcade character had its perks- particularly during the school year. Granted, the arcade always opened at ten in the morning in the summer, giving some characters plenty of time to sleep if they wished after being played until midnight; but during the school year Stanley Litwak had shortened his arcade's hours. He ran from three in the afternoon to ten in the evening Tuesday through Thursday; and Mondays were when he closed, mostly to do maintenance on the games and restock snacks and prizes. But the extra time off was good for the characters. It gave them time to charge and visit with their friends.

It was Vanellope's first school year though, so she was more than a little bored. She could only visit her big lug of a friend so often, and usually Ralph just came to visit her instead. She had spent some time with Felix and Calhoun earlier in the day, since she was learning how to shoot. Calhoun helped her practice, and Felix fixed the targets and offered her encouragement of all kinds. It was the shooting session that had gotten her thinking.

Felix had taken to calling her 'sweet pea', a pet name that she rather liked, and Calhoun always had a satisfied smile for her when she managed to hit the center of the human shaped target. Whenever she said goodbye, she always felt a little lonely inside, and she couldn't figure out why for a while. But that morning she realized it was because they felt like _parents_, and that was an awkward feeling for her.

"Hey, Sour Bill." She said while lounging about the castle, not bothering to take the time to insult him wittily. He never responded anyway.

"Yes, princess." He stated in his usual monotone way, emerging from the doorway with a wash cloth and squirt bottle of sugar water- apparently he was waxing the floors again.

"Do we have any portraits? Big, awesome ones!"

The green ball just narrowed his eyes at her, looking like he was deep in thought for about half a moment. "No." He drawled.

She pouted. "None at all?"

"There was the one that hung in your throne room..." He mumbled, recalling the picture of her in her pink dress that had been taken down by King Candy, then replaced by the reset, and then taken down _again_ by her. She couldn't stand seeing that thing on a regular basis.

"But are there any of anyone _else_?" She asked, more than a hint of hopefulness in her voice.

Sour Bill didn't seem to understand what she was getting at, though. He just shook his head as a response and puttered off, deciding that he was through with her silly questions. She let him go and decided she would try to find some pictures on her own. Her castle had a library, after all! She could dig up something there, she was sure.

Her palace librarian ran the tutorial mode for the new players. He was a mustachioed Swedish fish, and he was always happy to see her about. He had been put into the 'fungeon' when King Candy found out he had found Vanellope in a book, so his subsequent release from imprisonment when she regained power made him quite affable. "Ooh, Good morgon meess preseedent!" He floated to her happily, bouncing about with a hum. "I help yoo tudey, yah? Ere-a fur a neece-a buuk, yah?"

Sometimes the tutorial was harder to understand than the game itself.

"Soooo, Fishy. My man. I was hoping you could lay a bit of knowledge on me. You know, mano-a-mano." She totally used that phrase wrong, but it sounded cool, so it was perfectly fine. "You got any record-like things laying around?"

"Ooh, yah. I hefe-a joost zee theeng!" He zipped off and she gave a little fist pump of accomplishment- until he brought back a record under his fin, carved from a lifesaver candy. She looked at the green music recording with exasperation as the fish looked proud of himself. "Zee best pulka in ell zee lund! I leestee tu it ell zee teeme-a. Geefe-a me-a zee shekes in my teeel feen, ooh yes." He did a little wriggle, humming an upbeat tune. Vanellope sat the record down on the table as slow and quiet as possible, wringing her hands together.

"No, see, I meant like... A _family_ record. Of the _Royal Family_." She bit her lip and raised her eyebrows at the gummy fish, who stopped dancing and thought on it, looking up to the ceiling as he did.

He was still for a few moments before hitting himself in the head with his fin with an 'ah' of understanding. He shook his head and chuckled. "I knoo vhet yuoo meun noo, meess preencess preseedent! I understund cumpletely, yah!"

"Awesome!" She said, giving him the thumbs up and waiting. But the librarian didn't move, just stared at her and smiled. "Could you get it for me?" She asked him kindly, glancing away to the shelves before looking back to him. "...Now?"

"Oh! Ve-a dun't hefe-a oone-a." He proclaimed with a smile.

Vanellope threw her hands up in the air with a groan and stalked off, doing her best to ignore the sound of the polka record being put on as she shoved her hands in her pockets.

The candy cane forest was the best place for her to go when she had to think, but Vanellope still found her head in a jumbled mess as she sat on one of the tree branches. She wasn't alone for long though- zipping through the forest road was Taffyta Muttonfudge, who slowed to a stop and reversed when she saw Vanellope's cart.

"How's it going, sweet tart?" The girl asked. She had been rather nice to her since she found out she was the princess. Making up for lost time, she guessed.

"Do you have parents?" Vanellope asked, ignoring the girl's question. "I mean," She continued, jumping down the branches of her tree, "Even in your coding?"

"Uhm." Taffyta had to think for a moment, but she shook her head. "No." She confirmed, and Vanellope didn't feel so bad. But then Taffyta snapped her fingers. "But I have a little sister!" She chimed, feeling proud of herself. "She's part of the bumper cars mini game! Toffyta Muttonfudge." She ran off to her kart as Vanellope's face sank, returning with a picture. She was essentially a palette change of Taffyta using different shades of brown, and instead of a strawberry, her hat was a hazelnut.

"Do you all have siblings?" Vanellope asked weakly, holding the picture. "All of the other racers?"

"Well, Adorabeezle and Nougetsia are twins, just like Jubileena and Citrusella. And Minty Zaki, Torvald Battebutter, and Sticky Wipplesnit are all cousins." Taffyta licked her sucker in thought before pulling another out of her pocket, offering it to Vanellope. The girl took it, clutching it in her hands. "Candlehead's grandpa guards the kart bakery. Gloyd's uncle works in a maze mini game. Snowanna's mom works in a dance minigame that's still around, but didn't make it into the game. You know the one. Swizzle and Crumbelina are brother and sister."

"Really?" Vanellope asked around her sucker, having stuck it in her mouth.

"Mmhmm. I didn't know for a while either." Taffyta had to think. "Annnd Rancis has an older brother. He runs peppermint plinko." Taffyta smiled triumphantly, proud of herself for remembering everyone. Then she stared at Vanellope. "You don't have a family in the game?"

"N-n-no." She glitched, feeling very crummy. Taffyta gave her a hug and held her at arm's length, smiling brightly.

"Well, you have a bunch of friends! That's all the family you need!" The blonde said, smiling. "I gotta go polish my kart. I'll see you at three!" She jogged off, jumping in and giving her a wave goodbye. "Stay sweet!" She chimed before zipping off, leaving Vanellope alone. The girl sat on the ground with a thump, legs splayed out as she took everything in. So everyone had a family but her? Well, maybe not Sour Bill, but all the racers, they had _families_? _Siblings_, even?

"Where's my family?" Vanellope asked out loud, looking at her kart. The frosting stood out, the part signed by Ralph, in big, red letters. She smiled a little bit and picked herself up, not even bothering to dust off. She didn't need parents, or a family! She had a big family of racers and wreckers, and everything in-between.

"Let's motor!" She threw her kart into drive and zoomed away, ignoring the voice somewhere in her code that was whispering to her 'something isn't right'.


	3. Kart Envy

"It was right here!" The tiny racer yelled in dismay as she alternated between running and glitching up and down the short stretch of track she had pinpointed. Ralph observed her panic with a look of dismay, hands stuffed into his armpits. Of all the places for Vanellope to drag him on a wild goose chase, why did it have to be in the middle of the Chipalayas? At least they were in one of the tunnels out of the wind, but it was still cold.

Ralph sighed as she started over for the twentieth time. Rubbing his hands together, the wrecker walked over and picked up Vanellope, sitting her on his shoulder. She looked about ready to throw a tantrum. "What did you see anyway?" His friend hadn't told him when she showed up in his game right after closing, she just demanded that he follow her. In retrospect, he probably should have stayed put until she told him. It would have saved them both some trouble.

Sticking her tongue out at him, Vanellope stood on Ralph's shoulder rather than remaining seated. "I didn't see it, I _felt_ it! I was in the lead of a big race, and the player totally knocked my high score out of the park! You should've seen it! Taffyta was in second and I couldn't even see her in my mirror!" Ralph refrained from rolling his eyes. President Von Schweetz had a tendency to hyperbolize when recounting her daily racing adventures. He normally wouldn't mind, but the cold had put a damper on his patience. "Then I was going through here and I felt this rush of warm air, kind of like, like a big vent! It was like when you yell, except there wasn't a big stinky cloud of bad breath."

With a snort, Ralph shook his head and picked Vanellope up by her hood delicately, placing her in the cockpit of her kart before climbing on the back. "Well there isn't a hotspot here now, that's for sure. Let's get out of here before I turn into a popsicle."

"A stinky popsicle." Vanellope felt the need to add, but she did as he said and started off. They didn't talk for a while, partially because she was concentrating on driving and partially because if he opened his mouth the cold seemed to suck the air right out of him. Once they got into a warmer part of the track, the girl looked up at him and tucked some of her hair behind her ear. "You believe me though, right?" She asked, unsure of herself.

The big guy raised his brows at her and smirked. "Of course I do, fart feathers." He assured her, climbing off the spoiler as they pulled up in front of the castle. "You probably hit a, oh man." He snapped his fingers as she looked up at him, bewildered. "A loose coding spot. You said the player broke the high score, right?"

"Sent it through the roof!" She confirmed, throwing her arms in the air and jumping clear from her kart for emphasis.

That settled it then. "Yup. Loose code." He repeated. Judging by Vanellope's confused look, he figured she didn't get it. He wasn't sure how to explain it, but he'd give it a try. As they entered through the front doors, he thought on it for a bit. "Okay kid, it's like this. There was supposed to be something there, but the programmers took it out, and all you have left is the spot where it was supposed to be. So this thing would have been unlocked by breaking your high score, but it didn't get put in the game, so all you've got is the loose code where it should have been plugged in."

Nodding slowly, Vanellope seemed to understand his explanation rather well. He did better than he hoped. "So it doesn't mean anything?"

"Nope." Ralph nodded, smiling until he noticed how crestfallen she looked. His smile faded and he put his hands on his hips, tilting his head to the side as he followed her through the hall. "What, you hoped something would be there?"

There was an unreadable expression on her face, like she wanted to tell him something, but she kept it to herself. "Well yeah! Who doesn't like new things?" She shrugged it off, but he could tell it really bothering her.

"It was probably your bonus level." He pointed out, and she gave an 'ah' of understanding. "What are we doing here anyway?" He questioned, taking a look at the vaulted ceilings as they climbed the stairs. He didn't usually hang out in the castle with Vanellope, there were a lot of breakable and sugary things. He was careful with where he put his hands, in any case.

They reached a large set of double doors and she hauled them open, ignoring the Oreo brigade who tried to help her. Ralph hid a smile as they entered. "I wanna show you something!" Vanellope informed him, zapping inside and appearing on the other side of the room. It appeared to be an offshoot of the library for her royal presidency. Lots of papers were lying around on various tables, writing utensils scattered about like sprinkles. He paused and took a closer look.

Right. They _were_ sprinkles.

"Check it out!" Vanellope pushed the sprinkle pens out of her way and brought him back to reality as she spread a sheet of blue paper out on the table. It was covered in drawings, and upon closer inspection, it looked like a couple of karts. Both looked larger than the standard karts in the game, although while one seemed a lot bigger, the other was smaller and more compact.

The wrecker scratched his chin in thought as he took a closer look. "Look, kid, I made you your kart like you asked, but if you're asking for a repeat performance then I gotta say, I don't think it's gonna happen." But Vanellope just laughed and him and waved him off, pointing with the pencil.

"_I'm_ gonna make these karts, Stinkbrain!" She pointed to the larger one on the print, gesturing to the sharp lines and the rather cool and interesting mechanical features. It looked like it was made out of black licorice. "This one's for Calhoun, and the other one's for Felix!" She pointed to the smaller one, which had a lot more curves and a lot less bells and whistles. Ralph smiled. That was probably for the best. Felix wasn't too good with technology, despite how well he could fix it. But Ralph noticed there were only two sketches, one for Felix and one for Calhoun- there was no blueprint for him, which meant no kart for him. Granted, putting Ralph in a kart was probably not a good idea, but it still was a bit upsetting that the kid didn't even want to give it a try. He understood that she spent a lot of time with Felix and Calhoun, but the time they spent together was dwarfed by how much time Ralph spent with her. He pressed a hand on the blueprint and felt angry for a moment, and his temper kicked in and he wanted to flip the table and throw a tantrum.

But looking back to Vanellope, Ralph found her biting her lip and wringing her hands. "Do you think... They'll like them?" She squeaked, her voice breaking like it was wont to do when she was nervous. The kid looked so worried, and he couldn't upset her at that moment. He'd keep his insecurities to himself, maybe ask about it later. For now, all Vanellope wanted was validation.

"Yeah, kid, looks great." It wasn't a lie, they did look pretty awesome. He gave her a thumbs up then held out his fist. "Top shelf."

"Top shelf!" She squealed, jumping up to bump her tiny fist against his, a gesture they both were fond of.

Just as she was about to explain the construction to him, Sour Bill came in quicker than usual, eyes wide. "Princess!" He gulped, pointing. "Felix is here. Something's gone wrong in the station!" Both of them looked at each other before Ralph picked Vanellope up and dashed out. If Sour Bill was worried, then there was something _really_ wrong. They met Felix in the foyer, and he sprinted across the room to them.

"Ralph!" He said, relieved to have found him there too. "We need to go to the station! Something's gone wrong, it's like a mob in there!" Ralph gulped and put Vanellope down, holding his hands out to her. "You stay here, okay kid?" He didn't want her getting stepped on, or worse.

"No way! I'm coming with you!" She glitched past him and Ralph groaned, looking to Felix for help. The man shrugged. "Look, if you guys don't take me I'm gonna go anyway, so c'mon!" She pouted, and the two men gave up, Ralph setting her on his shoulder.

"Alright. But if you go with us, then you've gotta stay put right here. Got it?" Ralph warned, giving her the sternest expression he could muster. She clasped her hands together and nodded before the three took off. "Where's Calhoun?" Ralph directed to Felix as they came down the bridge.

"She's doing crowd control. I'm telling you, it's crazy in there!" And as they stepped onto the rainbow bridge and made their way into the connecting tunnel, Ralph could already hear this faint buzzing noise. The closer they got, the louder it became, and when they stepped into the station Vanellope clapped her hands over her ears and winced, eyes widening as they took in the sight of every character from every game, crammed into any space they could find, all yelling at and over one another.

"Holy Honeydews." Felix groaned, and all Ralph could do was nod in agreement.


End file.
